Paul Simon reworks old songs for new album

Paul Simon has announced he is releasing his 14th studio album 'In The Blue Light' this September, which is comprised of reworked versions of his songs

Paul Simon has reworked a selection of his old songs for his new album.

The 76-year-old musician - who is currently in the midst of his 'Homeward Bound - The Farewell Tour' in the UK - has announced that his 14th studio album 'In The Blue Light' will be released this September and contains new versions of several of his relatively unknown solo tracks, such as 'Darling Lorraine' and 'The Teacher'.

Paul admits his motivation was to get the music sounding more like the versions he had in his head of what they should be like on record.

In a statement, he said: "This album consists of songs that I thought were almost right, or were odd enough to be overlooked the first time around. Re-doing arrangements, harmonic structures, and lyrics that didn't make their meaning clear, gave me time to clarify in my own head what I wanted to say, or realise what I was thinking and make it more easily understood."

The record features a tracklist of 10 songs produced by Simon along with Roy Halee, his frequent collaborator since the 1960s, and a host of guest musicians, including The National's Bryce Dessner who has provided an original arrangement on 'Can't Run But'.

Describing the LP, Paul - of Simon & Garfunkel fame - added: "It's an unusual occurrence for an artist to have the opportunity to revisit earlier works and re-think them; to modify, even completely change parts of the originals. Happily, this opportunity also gave me the gift of playing with an extraordinary group of musicians, most of whom I hadn't recorded with before. I hope the listener will find these new versions of old songs refreshed, like a new coat of paint on the walls of an old family home."